Product Description

Anna Raine is desperate: to escape Somerset, to evade her mother, and above all, to find a model of adulthood on whom to base her future self. When Stella, her mother's thrillingly reckless and beautiful younger sister, offers her Bloomsbury flat, Anna feels sure that an idiosyncratic but stylish wardrobe, interesting friends, several handsome suitors and some form of stardom will shortly follow.

While by day Anna feigns efficient adulthood, by night she sinks deeper into an increasingly heated world of discovery. As secrets rise to the surface and her fantasies begin to flower, fed by a photograph of Stella and another woman at a party, Anna tries to focus on Richard, Stella's enigmatic, occasional lover. And meanwhile the date for Stella's brief return from Paris approaches . . .

'An intelligent and gripping first novel with a pleasurable ripple of sexual tension' Diva

'A strange, stealthy, headily scented seethe of a book' Ali Smith, Glasgow Herald

'Love in Idleness is an elegant and assured debut, both a neat comedy of London manners and a poignant journey to self-discovery' Michael Arditti, Daily Mail

'With her gift for light humour, Mendelson seems to be skipping across the surface. Then she'll suddenly dive into a world of obsession' Josie Barnard, Independent on Sunday

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #123791 in Books
• Published on: 2002-03-08
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Love in Idleness is a wonderful first novel, a witty and closely observed study of a young woman's search for an adult identity. Anna Raine has just finished her degree and is desperate to begin her adult life, which she imagines will be filled with success, fame and sexually fulfilling relationships. When her glamorous Aunt Stella offers to let Anna stay in her London flat while she is away in Paris, Anna jumps at the chance to escape from her oppressive mother. But she has no friends in London and Mendelson's descriptions of the embarrassing situations that Anna gets herself into in her gauche attempts to meet people and find a job are excruciatingly funny.

Stella has secrets that the family won't talk about and, while trying to settle in to a new job in a bookshop, Anna keeps herself distracted from her loneliness by searching the flat for clues. She imagines romantic explanations for the secrecy and her obsession builds until she can think of almost nothing but Stella. When the errant aunt finally comes home, Anna' s pent-up feelings bubble over, but inevitably she has to cope with the fact that Stella, too, is only human. The book is filled with a warm affection for the hapless but slowly maturing Anna, and the descriptions of her everyday anguish will strike a chord with any reader who has ever been uncertain of their place in the world. The writing is assured, polished and in places very, very funny. This is a splendid debut. Charlotte Mendelson is an author to watch. --Elizabeth Sourbut

About the Author
Charlotte Mendelson lives in London. Love in Idleness is her first novel and she is currently writing her second, Daughters of Jerusalem. She is a publisher and reviewer for the Scotsman and Independent and Guardian.

Customer Reviews

Excellent book - sexy, moving, funny
I don't think these other reviews have got the point of this book - it's about a great subject: getting a huge crush on someone when you've nothing to do but think about them all day, and so it's SEXY! and FUNNY! all the cleverness and observations make it even better, but the main thing is that it's something that anyone [...]would understand, and love reading about. It's a brilliant book, and an enjoyable one. Read it - it's fantastic.

Bliss ... A truly special read
I didn't know what I was in for when I read this novel, but it's one of the best novels I've read for a long time. It's impossible to put down, even though the plot's not that complex. In fact, it's highly subtle, and gets you thinking, wondering - and reading! When Anna uses her aunt's flat in London, she becomes fascinated with the aunt - yes, a blood relation! - and gradually her fantasies become more and more heated. As the fantasies hot up, so does the plot involving a secret about the deliciously naughty aunt Stella...

Beautifully written and very moving
This book is so good - managing to be moving, funny and has a great way with language. I so empathised with Anna and it brought back such memories of when I first faced the big wide world.